Parental alienation is a relationship dynamic that generally arises in the context of divorce or separation, and involves the behavior of parents and children. Although clinicians once defined it as the irrational actions of a child coping with feelings of rejection by a mother or father, parental alienation today encompasses a complex variety of behaviors.
Pathological Alignment
The earliest studies of parental alienation saw it in terms of irrational behavior in the child. In fact, according to Dr. Richard Gardner, who coined the term parental alienation, an unjustified "campaign of denigration against a parent" was the characterizing feature of parental alienation. This "parental alienation syndrome," or pathological alignment, was seen as a complex response to the tense dynamics of child custody disputes.
Gardner's Eight Symptoms
According to Gardner, parental alienation syndrome presents eight telltale symptoms: a prolonged campaign of hatred against a targeted parent, denigration of the parent's extended family and friends, absurd rationalizations for the hatred, lack of ambivalence about the parent, a belief that that the decision to reject the parent is the child's own decision rather than a reaction, support for the other parent in the custody battle, lack of guilt over the hatred of the alienated parent, and mockery or adoption of phrases or habits of the alienating parent.
Parental Alienation
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual. or DSM, does not recognize parental alienation syndrome as a condition. Since Gardner's initial work in the early 1980s, the approach to parental alienation is that it is less a syndrome or pathology of the child and more a constellation of behaviors that tend to create a disturbance in the relationship between a parent and child. The focus has shifted away from simply the behavior manifested by the child and toward the behaviors of all family members and how they contribute to a situation of perceived alienation, a consideration that is important in many family law contexts.
Naïve and Active Alienators
An active alienator is a parent who intentionally manipulates a child in order to harm the other parent. Through words and actions, that parent disrupts the child's emotional relationship with the other parent, and may teach the child to hate or reject the other parent. Even though the parent may later feel guilty about the alienating behavior, it is usually triggered by the parent's own feelings of hurt or anger, which cause a loss of control. A naïve alienator is one who is generally passive about the child's relationship with the other parent but occasionally says or does things that tend to alienate the child's affection from the other parent.
Child Custody Decisions
Child custody awards are among the most important decisions family law judges make. Each state requires the judge to make the best interest of the child the top priority, but this can mean different things in different situations. Many states now recognize that it is in the best interests of the child to have access to both parents, even after a divorce or separation. Thus, when awarding child custody, some states actively oppose parental alienation by explicitly considering the likelihood each parent will continue to afford the child access to the other.
